[Joey W]

ok, i mainly fish for trout in georgia and north carolina, and i'm trying to find reliable flies/patterns for this area. i read a lot of posts talking about stimulators with a fly dropped below it..

can someone explain this to me?

thanks a ton

joey

[Greenwood]

Hi,
A Stimulator is a large dryfly, usually used to represent a stone fly or maybe a grass hopper. (Google it up, you'll find lots of variations). Because it's so buoyant, it is able to hold a second sinking fly off of the bend of its hook. The stimulator acts as an indicator for the unseen fly. There are other high floating patterns you can use in a like manner; such as Humpies, Wulff patterns and many patterns tied from foam such as beetles and hoppers.

[Joey W]

appreciate the info..

one other question, what type of loop or knot do you guys use to tie the dropper to the hook of the stimulator?

[Fish Bones]

Attached are some photos of a few variations of the Stimulator dry fly.

As far as how to connect the dropper... I tie a section of mono to the hook bend of the floating fly using an improved clinch knot. However, there are several techniques that work equally well.

[Greenwood]

As Fishbones mentioned, a length of tippet (could be anywhere from 10" to 2 ft or more depending on what you're trying to do) is tied by a cinch knot to the bend of the hook of the floating fly. It is generally recommended that the peice of tippet be one size lighter than the tippet that the stimulator is tied to. That allows the 2nd fly to sink better AND if you do get hung up, you should break off the trailing fly first; thus saving ONE of your flies.

[BigCliff]

Just wanna throw out the fact that small stimi's size 16 and 18 make GREAT caddis imitations that float very well. (they're also one that I buy instead of tying myself, cuz they're dang tough to tie in those sizes)

[Greenwood]

Good notation Cliff. Never thought of trying them as a Caddis imitation; and you're probably right about the small size being a 'pain' to tie.

[tlcrep]

Originally Posted by Joey W

ok, i mainly fish for trout in georgia and north carolina, and i'm trying to find reliable flies/patterns for this area. i read a lot of posts talking about stimulators with a fly dropped below it..

can someone explain this to me?

thanks a ton

joey

A stimulator can represent either just a generic searching pattern, or if their are stoneflies in the system it can represent a stonefly. It is an improved fly from the sofa pillow.

A very effective strategy is using a dry on top, tying tippet to the bend or eye of the dry fly, then attaching a nymph or emerger to the tippet. Thus you can fish BOTH a nymph and a dry fly at the same time (try to open up your loop a bit so you dont tangle as much). How do you know if a fish takes your nymph? Well your dry acts like a indicator!! if the fish takes your nymph your dry fly will go down just like a indicator would!

[professori]

Stimulators can be tied ina size 14 or even 16. iIn the smaller sizes, they do well as a representation of a caddis. Friend of mine just had great success on an Alaskan lake with a peacock bodied stimulator I tied for him, imitating caddis flies.

[OldMan]

Here's the one I use. Great during stone/hopper season.